Today is the first day of spring. And today is also Abbott Sisters Day, which celebrates the accomplishments of social reformers and Grand Island natives Grace and Edith Abbott. Both sisters fought for better treatment of children, women, immigrants and the poor. They did much of their work in Chicago, but their ties to Nebraska remain strong; upon her death in 1957 Edith left most of her estate to the Grand Island Public Library, which is now named for her. Last year, The University of Nebraska Press published The Grace Abbott Reader, which is a collection of some of Grace … Continue reading Spring is here and so is Abbott Sisters Day

As the end of college basketball season (which I’ve devoted much space to on this blog in recent weeks) draws near, baseball season is in full force. And the University of Nebraska Press LOVES baseball season. NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture holds an annual conference each spring, and this year, two of our authors will be featured speakers there. Lee Lowenfish, author of Branch Rickey, will give a presentation on his book – which is now out in paperback – on Friday, and Monica Nucciarone, author of Alexander Cartwright, will speak on Saturday. The conference is in … Continue reading Baseball books, baseball song, and plain old baseball

Another week, another cold Friday, and perhaps, another snowy Saturday, too. It’s becoming all too predictable here in the Midwest. Luckily, there is news in the world of the University of Nebraska Press. First off, one of our authors is in New York this weekend, attending the Festival of New French Writing. Abdourahman Waberi, author of In the United States of Africa, will give a lecture this afternoon. The festival’s web site notes that In the United States of Africa was “unanimously hailed by critics” when it was published in French in 2006 (yay accolades!). The UNP’s English translation of … Continue reading

There’s lots going on in the world of the University of Nebraska Press today. Let’s get right down to it. First, what are you doing at 12:42 p.m. today? If you’re going to be at your computer, you can stream an interview with Pamela Carter Joern, author of The Floor of the Sky and The Plain Sense of Things.  Joern will be on Des Moines community radio station 99.1, visiting with John Busbee, host of The Culture Buzz. Second, today is the 100th anniversary of Wallace Stegner’s birth. Stegner, whose novel Angle of Repose won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction … Continue reading Joern on Des Moines community radio, happy birthday to Wallace Stegner, and goodbye to Silas the cat

University of Nebraska Press fans in Seattle, San Francisco and New York will have a chance to meet a UNP author frequently mentioned on this blog (and in many wine columns) this week. Robert Camuto, author of Corkscrewed: Adventures in the New French Wine Country, will be in Seattle tomorrow (Feb. 17), in San Francisco Feb. 18 and 19, and in New York Feb. 21 through 25. For information on where you can see him (and taste some of the wines he describes in his book), visit his web site. You can read reviews of Corkscrewed in the Seattle Weekly … Continue reading Camuto on tour, Toor at AWP and one last look at Valentines

University of Nebraska Press author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve will read from some of her many books at the Great Plains Art Museum (1155 Q Street, Hewit Place, Lincoln) from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Sneve is a well-known Lakota writer and a recipient of the 2000 National Humanities Medal. She is the author of Lana’s Lakota Moons, Grandpa Was a Cowboy and an Indian and Other Stories, Chichi Hoohoo Bogeyman and many other children’s books. Her memoir, Completing the Circle, won the North American Indian Prose Award. The event is free and open to the public. Continue reading Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve at the Great Plains Art Museum